Abstract

Snigdha Daamireddy* and Dr. G. Sridhar Babu

ABSTRACT

Heavy metals are necessary for human health, and are beneficial when taken in to the body in foods or as supplements at appropriate, low levels but can be toxic when taken in higher concentrations. Heavy metals are contaminated through various sources like herbal medicines, drinking water, wastewater, solid waste, soils. Contamination of heavy metals in herbal medicines includes through agricultural soils and irrigation water from industrial waste disposal and some are also added during the preparation of the raw materials. Exposure to heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, nickel, zinc, iron, copper, chromium and mercury are highly poisonous can cause acute and chronic toxicity, like reduced mental and central nervous function and damage to vital organs. Long-term exposure may lead to physical, muscular, and neurological degenerative processes that mimic Alzheimer?s disease, Parkinson?s disease, and so on. Since safety continues to be a major issue with the contamination of heavy metals, it becomes imperative, therefore, relevant regulatory authorities put in place appropriate measures to protect public health. Hence it is necessary to study the levels of metals being consumed by us, in daily life and further consequences can be evaluated. Among different analytical techniques, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy is a versatile tool for detection and quantification of elements in accurate manner in terms of sensitivity, precision and accuracy. ICP-OES is one of the sophisticated analytical techniques used for multielement analysis of trace metals in water, food, soil and herbal medicines.